"Adam is a stalker," Daniel says amusedly.

"Is he?" I ask, raising my eyebrow.

"Well, I think he is following Alyson and Clay in their date."

"Maybe he just wanted to make sure that Alyson is safe."

"You're biased," he states.

"I'm not," I say indignantly.

He grins. "It's kind of obvious, how you're defending him. It's like you really want him to be with Alyson."

Am I obvious?

Of course, I want Alyson and Adam to be together because they are meant for each other.

I look around me to not meet Daniel's eyes. I don't want to admit that he's kind of right. I have to admit, I'm stubborn.

Daniel and I are in the steps of the local museum.

Middle school students gather at the entrance, waiting for their tourist guide to arrive. Probably it's a requirement for their History subject. We visited the museum once, for a school project.

Some people are on the steps beside us. Some are chatting with their friends while others are just staring off into space. Maybe they're waiting for something.

The hardest part of waiting is when you realize you have waited for nothing. Experience taught me that.

An artist gets my attention. He'sprobably in his mid twenties, and surrounding him are his paintbrushes, paints, and other things I can't name. He's painting the scenery around us – the fountain, the trees, and the people. The fountain is where people toss a coin and pray for their wishes to come true.

Even though I pass by it a double dozen times, I haven't toss a single coin yet. What's the point? A wish will never come true if you don't do anything about it. You have to take action and make it happen. Only lazy people wait for their dreams to happen without doing anything.

Sometimes I wonder why Margarett adopted me. Why me? Did I look pathetic that night?

Maybe.

I can't really remember what I looked like before. Most of my memories are gone, not only Alex's face, but my childhood days as well. Flashbacks come at unexpected times, blinding me with visions of the past.

I'm lucky to have Margarett because if she didn't see me that night, I'm probably walking around aimlessly, not having a goal in mind. Not that I have a goal now, but I have a reason to live.

"Annalise."

Startled, I look around in bewilderment. I find Daniel shaking my arm. "What?" I ask.

His face is full of concern. "I was talking, and you suddenly stared into something faraway."

"Sorry," I say, lowering my head in embarassment.

Really, even in my imagination, I daydream.

"I'm just worried about you," he says gently.

"I'm okay," I assure him.

"Maybe you're bored with me, talking and talking—"

"No," I interject, shaking my head. "You're not boring at all. I'm just, uh, I just thought of something."

He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

Why do I always have to ruin the moment?!

"Sorry, Daniel."

He moves closer to me and ruffles my hair. "It's alright. Can I continue reading your beautiful story?"

"Won't you want to repeat what you were talking about earlier?" I ask hopefully.

"It was nothing," he says. "Not important at all." Then he gets my notebook from his lap and begins to read.

"Adam arrives in the restaurant a couple of minutes after Alyson and Clay. He chose a table a little bit farther away from them, afraid of being caught. In the end, in the table he picks, he can see them, but he's obscured from their view. Just the way he likes it."

Daniel pauses reading and says, "Fortunately for him, the restaurant isn't full so he doesn't need reservation to come."

"Yes," I agree, glad that he gets it right.

 "Not wanting to raise suspicion," Daniel reads, "he orders the famous dish of the restaurant when the waiter arrives. In the corner of his eyes, he can see Alyson laughing while Clay is talking. Adam rolls his eyes at them. It's not hard to make Alyson laugh. She can be happy by simple things.

"In that instant, Adam remembers his childhood memories with Alyson. He suddenly misses the time they spent together. Although he has many friends, no one can compare to Alyson."

Daniel stops and gives me a knowing look.

"What is it?" I ask curiously.

"Is this the time when he realizes he loves her?"

"It's a secret," I say slyly, a smile is tugging at the corner of my mouth.

He shakes his head while smiling and then he resumes reading. "Adam has to do something to be friends with Alyson, like before. He doesn't want her to be with that guy, despite the fact he can see she's having fun. It was his fault, for hanging out with the popular crowd that he has little time with his best friend. He even admits to himself that he has taken her for granted - a sad fact that he wants to change."

Daniel sighs as he gives my notebook back to me. "It's not yet done," he mutters.

"Because I have a lot of things to do," I say, putting my notebook in my bag.

He closes his eyes and says, "I hope and pray Annalise will have free time so that she can write more and more and more." He opens his eyes and smiles at me.

Something tugs at my heartstrings. I think my heart skips a beat. "That. . . that means a lot to me," I whisper, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me," he says, his eyes sparkling in delight. "It's me who need to thank you for sharing your talent with me. I hope you'll share it with the rest of the world. They need you."

"Thanks," I say, not knowing what else is there to say.

Daniel is so interesting. It's hard to conceive that everything he's saying is coming from me. Where did I get those things? Where am I getting this make up scene in my head?

"It's my turn to ask a question, right?" Daniel asks after a moment of comfortable silence.

Truth be told, I forgot. So I just say, "Yes," instead.

He's silent as he stares at the fountain ahead.

It's a few minutes when my patience gets the best of me. "What's your question?" I ask.

To my surprise, he starts to blush. There's a soft rose tint on his cheeks. Oh my, he becomes more handsome if that's possible.

His eyes, his beautiful blue eyes stare right into my eyes. The intensity of his gaze makes my heart beat faster and louder.

I'm afraid to glance down and see my heart ripping its way out of my chest.

Daniel leans to me and reaches for my hands. "Annalise."

I love the sound of my name coming from his mouth.

"I'm glad I met you," Daniel says, smiling at me.

"Me, too," I reply somewhat shyly.

His hands are so warm, I hope he doesn't let go too soon.

"You know," he says, "I'm happy I ran into you that day."

I laugh, remembering the first time I saw him. Accident – a nice way to meet and be friend a person.

"My life changed because of you." His eyes gaze at me as if I'm something precious. Like I'm the most important person in his life.

I open my mouth to respond but no sound comes so I snap it shut. I might say something that will ruin the moment. This special moment with him.

"Please don't think it's too early for this," he continues, interlacing our fingers, afraid that I might vanish if he don't hold on tight.

"I think . . ." he trails off and then sighs.

"What is it?" I whisper.

"It's hard for me to speak my feelings," he mutters, embarassed.

I smile and squeeze his hands to encourage him. "Try again?"

He smiles in return and says, "If. . . if I ever I ask you to be my girlfriend, is there, um, a chance?"

I stare at him, my jaw dropping to the floor. Surely, this isn't my imagination anymore, right? I can't believe I'm the only one thinking about him now. How can I imagine something like this?

A tear escapes from my eyes when I open them. There's a stab of pain in my chest whenever I realize what I have with Daniel is not real, just a figment of my imagination. Everything good that is happening is a fantasy.

Only Daniel can give me a feeling of euphoria.

It hurts to realize that you can only be happy in your own little world.

I just can't live in my imagination because my life will be disastrous if I don't live in the real world as well.

One of my guilty pleasures is thinking about Daniel. Well, if I don't have much to do, I daydream about him. I'll never get tired of it.

Daniel is one of the most important aspects of my life. He's one of the reasons why I want to live. Silly as it may sound, I think I'm falling in love with my soon to be imaginary boyfriend.

If I can have a wish, a single wish, it's for Daniel to be real. It's for him to get out of my imagination and to live with me in the real world.

*****

I hope you like this! :)

The song for the chapter is The Real World by Owl City ♥ Banner by EXTREMEmusiclover :>

Thank you so much for still keeping up with me. I really appreciate it =)